320 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Orrhodia erythrocephala, "captured by J. H. A. .Tenner, Lewes," 

 brought £2 5s. the lot ; and four specimens of Xylina zinckenii 

 from 18s. to £1 4s. each. Ten specimens of Cleora viduaria put up 

 singly reahzed from 10s. to £1 10s. each, with an average price of 

 just over 16s. Qd., and three fine examples of Boletohia fuliginaria 

 captured by the late Mr. J. A. Clark, two in Lower East Smithlield, 

 and one in St. Katherine's Docks, just £2 2s. each after a keen com- 

 petition. — R. A. 



The Barker Collection. — Yet another collection of British 

 Lepidoptera, but of smaller size, has come under the hammer, that 

 formed by the late Mr. H. W. Barker being disposed of at Stevens's 

 Auction Rooms on November 16th. There were few really interesting 

 lots, but among the more noteworthy a fine Lyccena adonis female, 

 with splashes of male colour in left fore wing, brought £3 15s. ; a 

 male L. corydoii, under side very near var. obsoleta, with a nice blue 

 shot female, £1 the pair ; a fine male Nemeophila russula, with hind 

 wing much suffused with black, and another with quite clear hind 

 wings, £2 15s. the two ; a couple of confluent-spotted Arctia villica, 

 wuth two fairly darkly-marked A. caia, £1 2s. the lot ; and a fine 

 series of thirteen Cymatopliora flmtnosa £1 12s. M. — R. k. 



Wanted. — For breeding experiments in Heredity and Sex-deter- 

 mination, pupae of *S'. mendica and its (Irish) var. rustica. — L. Don- 

 caster ; Zoological Laboratory, University, Birmingham. 



CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 



Abundance of Pieris brassic^. — Following on Mr. Joseph 

 Anderson's note on this species (antea, p. 282), it ma}^ be of interest 

 to mention that Pieris hrassicce began to be seen in goodly numbers 

 about the gardens in Eastbourne and on the railway-banks on the way 

 to London about Aug. 12th, and from that time it became more and 

 more common until about the 22nd of that month, when it was met with 

 in unusual abundance not only in the town, but on any sheltered parts 

 of the downs where there were any flowers to attract it. It then 

 gradually diminished in numbers until, by the beginning of October, 

 only an occasional specimen was to be seen. I did not observe any 

 concerted movement on the part of the butterflies, nor was it a case 

 of the sudden appearance of large numbers as has been oliserved 

 under the influence of migration, but just a gradually increasing 

 number of individuals quite compatible with the natural development 

 of unusually large broods. By the end of September full-fed larvae 

 also were frequently seen wandering in search of suitable places for 

 pupation, and not a few found their way in at the windows of the 

 house where I was staying, although there was no adjacent cabbage- 

 garden, and spun up on the walls and ceilings of the rooms ; and 

 little bunches of yellow ichneumon cocoons, as well as healthy pupae, 

 were not infrequently seen under the copings of walls in the neigh- 

 bourhood. — Robert Adkin ; Lewisham, November, 1909. 



